Saturday, November 26, 2005

Smokestack Lightnin' were a group that came out of the Sunset Strip area and reportedly were the house band at the Whiskey A-Go-Go for a number of years. They recorded one LP and six singles, most of them for Bell. This is their second 45 from 1967 and, while this group was said to have a blues-based sound, you get two different flavors with this 45.

Flavor #1: Slow, psychedelic-styled tune with a nasty fuzz guitar solo. That's what you get with "Look What You've Done, which starts off softly with mournful guitar and vocals and haunting organ and then builds to a crescendo of loud mayhem, upon which that wicked fuzz guitar solo is dropped in like a hydrogen bomb on an unsuspecting village. It's comped on Sundazed's "Garage Beat '66 Vol. 1" if you're interested.

Flavor #2: Fast, upbeat garage mover. "Got A Good Love" opens with a super-charged Bo Diddley beat then switches to a more standard rhythm for the choruses and verses. Snappy vocals dominate this, while the back-up vocals sing "Got a good love" cheerfully. Then, we get lyrics like this:

Go ahead on and play,Cheat if you must,But when the sun goes down,That's the time for lust.

And we get another great fuzz guitar break, topped with a harmonica solo at the fade out.

In short, two different styles on a 45 well worth seeking out. I believe that most of this group's singles can be found at relatively reasonable cost. I don't remember paying any more than five bucks for this, but I might be wrong. Whatever the cost, you can't go too wrong with this, me says.

Neither Todd, nor I, quite have the technology necessary to post MP3s, if that's what you're asking for. Todd's working on it, but it's going to take me a while. In the meantime, if you see the records we write about anywhere, get 'em. That's what it's really all about.

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The .mp3's posted at It's Great Shakes are available for a limited time. If you like what you hear, you're greatly encouraged to track down the original records or suitable reissues for yourself. If you're involved in any way with one the recordings posted here and would like it removed, please send an email requesting such and it will be taken down.